From silents of the early American motion picture era through 21st century films, this book offers a decade-by-decade examination of portrayals of women in the military. The full range of genres is explored, along with films created by today's military women about their experiences. Laws regarding women in the service are analyzed, along with discussion of the challenges they have faced in the push for full participation and of the changing societal attitudes through the years.

The Women's History of the World was a Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller and translated into almost forty languages. Now it is time for a new women's history - for more famous, infamous and little known rebels. We begin with the French Revolution when women took on the Fraternite of man, then it's off to America to round up the rebels fighting side by side for freedom with their men, before heading back to Britain to witness the courage of the suffragettes. From Australia to South America, from India to China and from many other countries, we track women who - often at a very high cost to themselves - have stood up to age-old cruelties and injustices. Recording the important milestones in the long march of women towards equality through a colourful pageant of astonishing women, we chart the birth of modern womanhood. Women in sport, women in business, women in religion, women in politics and women in power - all female life is there. We end in the present day thrilled with what women have done - and can and will do. Rebel Women is as brave and as brilliant as its renegades, viragos and heroines." data-fwclientid="3a05f6a2-43d8-4f3a-95d4-d9aa7abf2558" data-preservehtmlbullets="0" data-allowlists="0" data-crlfsubmit="1" autocomplete="off" autocorrect="off" autocapitalize="off" spellcheck="false" class="field_input_main field_input_copytext field_input_copytext_body copytextheight-normal fieldkeycheck-setup copytext-setup field_input_disabled" contenteditable="false" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 3px; margin: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-left-radius: 5px; border-bottom-right-radius: 5px; border-collapse: separate; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); border-right: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-family: verdana, tahmoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; line-height: normal; outline: none; width: 586px; overflow-y: auto; display: inline-block; background-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); height: 100px; opacity: 1;">Rosalind Miles' The Women's History of the World was a Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller and translated into almost forty languages. Now it is time for a new women's history - for more famous, infamous and little-known rebels. We begin with the French Revolution when women took on the fraternite of man, then it's off to America to round up the rebels fighting side by side for freedom with their men, before heading back to Britain to witness the courage of the suffragettes. From Australia to Iceland, from India to China and from many other countries, we track women who - often at a very high cost to themselves - have stood up to age-old cruelties and injustices. Recording the important milestones in the long march of women towards equality through a colourful pageant of astonishing women, we chart the birth of modern womanhood. Women in sport, women in business, women in religion, women in politics and women in power - all female life is there. We end in the present day thrilled with what women have done - and can and will do. Rebel Women is as brave and as brilliant as its renegades, viragos and heroines.

While Rosie the Riveter had fewer paid employment options after being told to cede her job to returning World War II veterans, her sisters and daughters found new work opportunities in national defense. The 1948 Women's Armed Services Integration Act created permanent military positions for women with the promise of equal pay. Her Cold War follows the experiences of women in the military from the passage of the Act to the early 1980s. In the late 1940s, defense officials structured women's military roles on the basis of perceived gender differences. Classified as noncombatants, servicewomen filled roles that they might hold in civilian life, such as secretarial or medical support positions. Defense officials also prohibited pregnant women and mothers from remaining in the military and encouraged many women to leave upon marriage. Before civilian feminists took up similar issues in the 1970s, many servicewomen called for a broader definition of equality free of gender-based service restrictions. Tanya L. Roth shows us that the battles these servicewomen fought for equality paved the way for women in combat, a prerequisite for promotion to many leadership positions, and opened opportunities for other servicepeople, including those with disabilities, LGBT and gender nonconforming people, noncitizens, and more.

Norman tells the dramatic story of fifty women—members of the Army, Navy, and Air Force Nurse Corps—who went to war, working in military hospitals, aboard ships, and with air evacuation squadrons during the Vietnam War. Here, in a moving narrative, the women talk about why they went to war, the experiences they had while they were there, and how war affected them physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

The story of the intrepid young women who volunteered to help and entertain American servicemen fighting overseas, from World War I through the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The emotional toll of war can be as debilitating to soldiers as hunger, disease, and injury. Beginning in World War I, in an effort to boost soldiers’ morale and remind them of the stakes of victory, the American military formalized a recreation program that sent respectable young women and famous entertainers overseas. Kara Dixon Vuic builds her narrative around the young women from across the United States, many of whom had never traveled far from home, who volunteered to serve in one of the nation’s most brutal work environments. From the “Lassies” in France and mini-skirted coeds in Vietnam to Marlene Dietrich and Marilyn Monroe, Vuic provides a fascinating glimpse into wartime gender roles and the tensions that continue to complicate American women’s involvement in the military arena. The recreation-program volunteers heightened the passions of troops but also domesticated everyday life on the bases. Their presence mobilized support for the war back home, while exporting American culture abroad. Carefully recruited and selected as symbols of conventional femininity, these adventurous young women saw in the theater of war a bridge between public service and private ambition. This story of the women who talked and listened, danced and sang, adds an intimate chapter to the history of war and its ties to life in peacetime.

Wise and Baron relate the compelling war experiences of thirty American female soldiers in the war zones of Iraq and Afghanistan, highlighting their extraordinary display of dedication to their mission and to the soldiers and sailors with whom they served. While the book's focus is on today's women in combat, it also reaches back to Korea, Vietnam and World War II to offer stories of inspiring women who served at the "cusp of the spear" as they fought and died for their country.

In 1970, John Kowalski was among the many young, inexperienced soldiers sent to Vietnam to participate in a contentious war. Referred to as “Cherries” by their veteran counterparts, these recruits were plunged into a horrific reality. The on-the-job training was rigorous, yet most of these youths were ill-prepared to handle the severe mental, emotional, and physical demands of combat. Experiencing enemy fire and observing death up close initiates a profound transformation that is irreversible. The author excels at storytelling. Readers affirm feeling immersed alongside the characters, partaking in their struggle for survival, experiencing the fear, awe, drama, and grief, observing acts of courage, and occasionally sharing in their humor. "Cherries" presents an unvarnished account, and upon completion, readers will gain a deeper appreciation for the trials these young men faced over a year. It's a narrative that grips the reader throughout.